Bank Aston, the new Guernsey-based bank, has appointed experienced banking professionals and Guernsey residents Claire Whittet and Roy McGregor as its first Non-Executive Directors.
Bank Aston was launched in June 2025 having been granted a banking licence by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC), making it Guernsey’s first locally-licensed bank in a generation. It is currently building out its products and services and plans to onboard its first customers in the first half of 2026.
Claire Whittet (pictured) brings over 40 years’ banking experience to Bank Aston’s Board. She is the former Co-Head of Rothschild & Co Bank International in Guernsey, where she spent 13 years, and before that held senior roles at the Bank of Bermuda and Bank of Scotland. A seasoned NED, Claire sits, and has sat, on several boards in Guernsey including the boards of LSE investment companies, private equity firms and Rothschild & Co Bank International.
Roy McGregor is a former CEO of Credit Suisse AG in the Channel Islands, a position he held for a decade before leaving the company in 2016. He is currently President of the Guernsey Tax Tribunal and holds a variety of NED roles in the financial industry, including Imperium Group Holdings and several banking and financial services firms across the UK, the Islands and Gibraltar.
Claire said: “Offshore banking has long needed a new player. Bank Aston is building an offer that I have no doubt will disrupt the tired status quo currently serving the offshore community. In my conversations with the leadership team, I know that Bank Aston is taking regulatory responsibilities and risk extremely seriously and I am looking forward to guiding that area of the business in the coming years.”
Roy said: “Having been part of the offshore banking community for decades there is a considerable opportunity for a Bank that treats trustees, funds and family offices as its priority, rather than a ‘nice to have’. I have been taken by the Bank’s understanding of its customer base and the pain points those customers have with traditional banking offers. The size of the market is huge and so is Bank Aston’s potential.”
Bank Aston’s Chairman, Kevin Brown, recently stepped down as a Senior Independent Director and Risk Committee member at the Bank of England, and understands the value of good governance and the importance of independence on a bank’s Board. He said: “Roy comes to us with a very strong governance experience on the island, his role in fiduciary and other financial institutions is well known and respected by the GFSC and the financial community here. That fits extremely well with Claire, whose focus is on the audit and risk side from decades with major banks.
“The Guernsey regulator has been very supportive of Bank Aston over the past couple of years as we’ve progressed – but also very clear about what it requires of its financial community. Roy and Claire will help keep a regulator-like eye on what is the first bank on the island for thirty years.”
Paul Gorman, CEO, says having Guernsey residents with an intimate knowledge of island’s financial community as NED is vital. He commented: “We are proud and delighted to welcome Claire and Roy as our first two NEDs. Both Guernsey residents, they know the island’s financial services sector like the back of their hands. We are building a Guernsey based bank and our key people – its mind and its management – are here on the island.
“They have unparalleled experience in offshore markets and I am looking forward to having their input as we build a bank that shakes up the offshore banking sector.”
